The DxO ONE, a pocket-sized premium camera for the iPhone and iPad, has been introduced by DxO.

Update: DxO says the DxO One will ship in October for £416 plus VAT. You can pre-order it via www.dxo.com.

The French company said the camera is able to attach via the Lightning connector and claims it to be capable of delivering DSLR image quality.

It features an ultra-high quality f/1.8, 32mm equivalent aspherical lens with a variable 6- blade iris and a 1-inch 20.2MP CMOS BSI sensor capable of capturing high-resolution images even in very low light.

Weighing 108g and standing only 6.9 cm tall, the £499 DxO ONE is small enough to easily fit in a pocket, and is made of high-grade aluminum.

The camera swivels around 60°, enabling creative perspectives and records video at 1080p/30fps or 720p/120fps.

A free iOS app enables control of the individual settings on the DxO ONE camera, including aperture (from f/1.8 to f/11), shutter speed (from 15s to 1/8000s), and ISO (from 100 to 51200).

In addition to an Auto mode, the DxO ONE app offers various capture modes, including multiple Scene modes, Speed, Aperture Priority, or full Manual mode – and the camera interface automatically adapts to the selected mode.

As well as the built-in microSD memory card, photos or video can be automatically stored in the iOS camera roll, where they are immediately displayed on the iPhone’s or iPad’s screen, and can be instantly shared to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The DxO ONE offers a proprietary SuperRAW technology, the result of 4 RAW frames captured in quick succession. When the DxO ONE camera is connected to a Mac or PC, the DxO Connect companion software automatically merges the four images together using spatial and temporal noise reduction.

The camera achieves a DxOMark Sensor Score of 70, and up to 85 when using the SuperRAW technology, on par with full frame DSLRs and pegging it higher than any smartphone, claimed the company. DxOMark is an industry-standard protocol for camera and lens image quality assessment, used throughout the camera industry and photography press.

“The image quality of the DxO ONE is stunning,” said Jerome Meniere, CEO and founder of DxO. “It’s possible to shoot crystal-clear images under moonlight, which is incredible for a camera this small. The shallow depth of field and bokeh of the lens at f/1.8 is absolutely perfect for portrait photography.

“We believe that, as the first truly connected camera, the DxO ONE opens a completely new era in digital imaging and we can’t wait to see what incredible images photographers around the world will be able to create with it.”

However if you’re at all concerned about the future of Apple’s Lightning connector, it might be wise to wait until September 9 before ordering one.

Apple typically announces a new iPhone model in the autumn, and there is speculation around possible adoption of USB-C, so bear this in mind if you want to buy the DxO ONE with future iPhone and iPad models in mind.

If you’re unconcerned by this possibility, as a reward for early adopters the DxO ONE comes with free licenses of two RAW image processing applications, for a limited time. These are DxO OpticsPro (ELITE Edition, sold separately for £159), and DxO FilmPack (ELITE Edition, sold separately for £99), which digitally reproduces the look and feel of analogue films.